Koinonitis
●
●
●
●
●
●
Over-active fellowship, people
turned inward.
Work focused on maintenance, not
outreach.
“Church is for saints, not for
sinners.”
Little attempt to bring new
Christians into church.
Few or no friends outside of church.
Common to immigrant churches,
high group consciousness,
charismatic groups.
Koinonitis
●
●
CURE:
Rearrange and divide existing
groups.
●
Keep small groups “porous.”
●
Start new groups regularly.
●
Be sure all levels of sanctification
have groups of their own.
Arrested Spiritual
Development
●
●
●
DEFINITION: A condition where
decisions don't become disciples.
SYMPTOMS: Many members can't
articulate their faith and their
relationship to Christ.
Poorly defined vision and
philosophy of ministry.
●
Purposeless education program.
●
Dull, lifeless worship services.
●
Crisis-oriented pastoral care only.
●
Pastor leaves every 4-6 years.
Arrested Spiritual
Development
●
MORE SYMPTOMS: Deficient
Bible knowledge
●
Little or no soul-winning.
●
Poor spiritual formation
●
Spiritual gifts neither recognized
nor used.
●
CURE: Revival by the Holy Spirit.
●
Emphasize prayer and evangelism.
●
Re-state church's vision that
stretches the congregation's faith.
Arrested Spiritual
Development
●
●
●
●
MORE CURES: Disciple and
equip, rather than educate.
Pastor must develop the following
traits: stays put, Great Commission
minded, gutsy, ranches the herd
rather than shepherds the flock.
Discover and use people's spiritual
gifts.
Worship that gives an experience of
God rather than information about
God.
People Blindness
●
●
●
●
DEFINITION: Oblivious to
cultural differences.
SYMPTOMS: The attitude that
other cultures are inferior
Trying to do cross-cultural
evangelism in a mono-cultural way.
Not recognizing barriers in
language, dialects, and lifestyles.
Problems in assimilating people.
People Blindness
●
●
CURES: Affirm the cultural
heritage of each cultural group.
Reach different cultural groups in
culturally appropriate ways.
HyperCooperativism
●
●
●
●
●
DEFINITION: Cooperation for the
wrong ends (e.g. Joint evangelistic
crusades)
Push for cooperation and mergers
because of dwindling resources.
A lot of time spent in evangelism,
but no results. Decisions, but no
disciples.
Identity of each congregation is
blurred.
A lot of pastors' time spent in
merging instead of evangelism.
HyperCooperativism
●
CURE: Limit cooperation to joint
theological education, social
services, and church unity; but not
evangelism.
Sociological
Strangulation
●
●
DEFINITION: Overcrowding of
facilities
SYMPTOMS: Church growth
stops.
●
Sanctuary 80% full.
●
CURE: Build sanctuary larger.
●
Hold parallel services in other
rooms of same building.
●
Start daughter church.
●
Home meetings
●
Weekday services, multiple services
St. John's
Syndrome
●
●
●
●
●
●
DEFINITION: Christianity of
Faith and form, but no power.
SYMPTOMS: Most members
raised in Christian families. 3rd and
4th generation Christians.
Loss of first love for Jesus Christ,
or never experienced first love.
Infiltration of false doctrine.
Affluence that leads to
lukewarmness.
Biological/transfer growth only.
St. John's
Syndrome
●
●
●
Patterns of worship are frozen.
Revival and renewal is rejected
theologically.
PREVENTION: Steady influx of
new and excited converts.
Other Diseases
●
●
●
ETHNICITIS – an unchanging
church in an ethnically changing
neighborhood.
SYMPTOMS: new minorities
moving into neighborhood,
vandalism of church property,
deteriorating buildings.
CURE: terminal disease, with a few
options.
–
–
–
–
–
Die with dignity.
Sell building and move.
Hire minority pastor to become a multiethnic church.
Forge new kind of homogeneity.
Become multi-congregational.
Other Diseases
●
REVERSE ETHNICITIS –
immigrant church which moves
into a majority culture
neighborhood.
Other Diseases
●
●
●
●
GHOSTTOWN DISEASE – a
church located in a disappearing
community.
SYMPTOMS: no weddings, no
baptisms, people leaving
neighborhood for education and
jobs, no one moving in.
CURE: none.
Share a pastor from another
congregation.
●
Remove guilt from the community.
●
Die with dignity.